Today's marketplace offers an increasing selection of fuels for engines, particularly internal combustion engines. These fuels have different properties, and fuel variations greatly affect engine performance. In addition, as emissions regulations become increasingly more stringent, fuel properties become increasingly important to the effectiveness of emissions treatments systems (also referred to herein as after-treatment systems).
Engine control systems and emissions treatment systems have become highly sophisticated, often using processor-based calibration and/or modeling techniques. However, currently, fuel properties are unknown to these systems. Engine calibration tables and models are often compromised to tolerate fuel property variations, resulting in less than optimal control systems.